Oh joy! Native American Chiefs of the Five Tribes of Utah, entering on horseback. Covered wagons pulled by teams of horses. “We” (horse-related) made it to the Winter Games! Yay!
Spectacular production!
Oops! Commercial over–back to watching. 
[This message was edited by EquiMom on Feb. 09, 2002 at 10:39 AM.]
I thought it was incredible. Being a sap, I was alternating between crying and goosebumps at times, but then some inane commentator statement would bring me back to reality. 
Oh joy! Native American Chiefs of the Five Tribes of Utah, entering on horseback. Covered wagons pulled by teams of horses. “We” (horse-related) made it to the Winter Games! Yay!
Spectacular production!
Oops! Commercial over–back to watching.
[This message was edited by EquiMom on Feb. 09, 2002 at 10:39 AM.]
and I usually detest these “productions”. I wondered how the people in the stands kept warm, but whenever I saw spectator’s faces they sure looked happy and excited and not a bit distressed.
I teared up when the Native Americans came in. It’s about time.
What’s with Jim McKay? He looked terrible and he was stumbling all over himself. Has he been sick?
And yes, I wanted to shut up the Bob and Katie also, though it might have been a little hard to follow without the commentary.
On with the games!
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by EquiMom:
Oh joy! Native American Chiefs of the Four Tribes of Utah, entering on horseback. Covered wagons pulled by teams of horses. “We” (horse-related) made it to the Winter Games! Yay!
Spectacular production!
Oops! Commercial over–back to watching. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Don’t forget the horse puppets, I want one!!!
~Jesse~
I also thought it was pretty cool that President Bush spent so much time sitting with our athletes, including talking to, we assume, Sasha Cohen’s parents on her cell phone!
i want a horse puppet too! those were too cool!
did anyone spot michael voudouris marching for greece? he was just about the very first athlete they showed. i just read this blurb about him in COTH today:
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>
Photographer Gets His First Olympic Credentials
For the first time, sports photographer Michael Voudouris is going to the Olympics with credentials. It will be a new experience for the man who, using considerable craftiness, a touch of charm and a fair amount of scheming, still managed to get into restricted areas to take photos for a variety of publications at the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Summer Olympics.
But the Queens native is leaving his camera behind this time because he?s taking his skeleton sled to the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Voudouris, 41, qualified to compete in the skeleton by a margin of 0.01 second, finishing eighth of eight to qualify in a race-off at the FIBT Skeleton Challenge Cup, Jan. 26-27, in Altenberg, Germany. Voudouris will represent Greece as his father was born there and he still holds a Greek passport.
The skeleton event is returning to the Olympic roster for the first time since 1948. Skeleton riders bullet down an icy chute, similar to the luge. Skeleton riders lie face down, however, and travel head first, achieving speeds of up to 80 mph, all on a sled a mere 2" above the ice.
Voudouris, an emergency medical technician, worked at Ground Zero for 48 consecutive hours in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Although he was scheduled to leave for Germany to train for Salt Lake City in September, Voudouris gave up two months of training to remain in New York City to continue to search the rubble for victims.
He?s dedicated his Olympic experience to the victims of the tragedy by painting a graphic of the Twin Towers on the underside of his sled and inscribing the names of the nine EMTs and paramedics who died at the World Trade Center.
In an interview with www.Newsday.com , an Internet news service, Voudouris said, “This gives me an opportunity to explain it?s not just the policemen and firemen who were there; there were others who were there working who lost their lives.”
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
–
*** DISCLAIMER: Please pardon me if this message seems overly abrupt, or there are blatant typos or a lack of capitalization. My left hand is broken and in a cast, and typing is not my favorite activity at the moment! 
***
(i’m back btw…just needed to clear the hormones from my system )
I noticed Jim McKay’s “problem” too…wow, I actually was torn between feeling sorry for him and being embarassed. Boy, he sure wasn’t speaking well, and was not tracking the conversation. Almost like he had had a stroke or something…how old do you think he is? Did they say he had commented on 12 olympics or less? He’s gotta be in his 70’s. What a shame, I have fond memories of him from other times. (Jean Claude K., Ingemarr Stenmark,Dorothy Hamill…I am getting old too.)
The horses were spectacular-I have to think that I also wondered how they were so calm. (In fact I had a dream last nite that Will was there just being a freak!). I thought at first the 5 indian horses walked out across the ice-I couldn’t tell where it started and ended-people walked on the ice tho, didn’t they? I loved the puppets most of all-I will ask my friend, she was there, in her $875 seat, freezing her butt off (bummer if you had to go to the restroom during those 4 hours, eh?) She might have more scoop on the real and puppet horses. The puppets gave me goosebumps-gorgeous lifelike heads. I’m a sap for that sort of stuff.
Proud Founder of the Elipses Users Clique…We can’t stop using them…
<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Erin:
i want a horse puppet too! those were too cool!
did anyone spot michael voudouris marching for greece? he was just about the very first athlete they showed. i just read this blurb about him in COTH today<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
Ohhh, I’d seen something about him on like CNN while flipping yesterday, but didn’t know the whole story, cool!!! I guess it makes sense though that he was shown first, since Greece came in first. I have decided I need to move somewhere like Bermuda and take up the bobsled or curling or something, lol the Olympics look like too much fun!
~Jesse~
My sister works in costume design shops while trying to become an actress in LA. Anyhow, she worked on many of those costumes (every damn one of those 66 golden eagle!). She also worked on the “wind” (the giant while seashell looking things). She had to sign a confidentiality clause but she told me everything anyways!
I can’t believe how calm those horses were. Did they really walk across the ice? They must’ve had a cocktail. I thought the Native Americans were wonderful. The blessing was very moving.
Did anyone else think Sasha Cohen should’ve stuck her cell phone in George W’s face?
“Nothing is good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
– Shakespeare
“Oh please don’t go – we’ll eat you up, we love you so.”
– Maurice Sendak
*** Member of the Rust Clique ***
*** Member of the Ebay Anonymous Clique ***
*** Member of the MKF (Michelle Kwan Forum)***
The first thought in my mind upon seeing the first horses, was how much Ace do you suppose they used? Then I saw the wagons…
All in all I thought the whole presentation was very good. The Native American show was very good, not overdone.
“The older I get, the better I used to be, but who the heck cares!”
I thought the ceremonies were pretty good. I big improvement over the tacky ceremonies of Atlanta and its pick-up trucks.
I think they should have used Eric Heiden to light the torch. He is the only person in winter Olympics to win five medals in one games. He also set a world or Olympic record in every race.
Probably no ace! Ditto for those pulling the wagons.
There is also going to be the rodeo (assuming PETA hasn’t caused its cancellation) and a Dressage Pas de Deux during the Games.
Of course, I have no TV here. 
Some horses can actually deal with distractions.
Heck, I could probably land a hot air balloon on my horse as long as she got a carrot first.
Being a Utah native transplanted some 20 years ago to Ohio, I LOVED the opening ceremonies (although seriously wanted to use the Mute button for teh commentators quite a bit… it’s artsy, you don’t need to EXPLAIN it to everyone like they’re 3! 
).
Loved the horses, puppets and live versions. LOVED the native american portion! (was happy to realize I remembered 3 of the 5 native tribes… my 7th grade history teacher would be proud). Cried when the WTC flag was brought in.
If Dressage is a Symphony… Eventing is Rock & Roll!
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